Five Teenagers Charged in Alleged Attack on Brooklyn Girl

Five teenage boys have been charged in connection with an alleged attack on a teenage girl in Brooklyn, New York, Thursday.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) said the five suspects, whose ages range from 14 to 17, turned themselves in to the 77th precinct, according to ABC 7.

“All five were charged as minors with robbery and assault. Their fate will be decided in Family Court,” the report stated.

Video footage of the incident showed one suspect running toward the 15-year-old girl and kicking her as she lay on the sidewalk. Moments later, several others ran up and also assaulted her.

When the group began to disperse, a man reached down and pulled off her tennis shoes, then walked away from the scene holding them as the other suspects followed.

Officials said the girl’s cell phone and debit card were also stolen. She was later transported to a hospital with bruising and swelling on her face but is expected to recover.

Friday, the NYPD tweeted the video and asked the public for help identifying the suspects:

🚨WANTED for ROBBERY/GANG ASSAULT: On 3/5, at approx 4:10 PM, in front of 216 Utica Ave in Brooklyn, a 15-year-old female was approached by a group of individuals & was punched & kicked to the ground & had her property removed. Any info call or DM @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/JjCCFbnhSJ

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 6, 2020

In a media release Thursday, the department said the recent criminal justice reforms were the “significant reason” New York City has seen a rise in crime this year.

The release continued:

In the first 58 days of 2020, 482 individuals who had already been arrested for committing a serious (felony) crime such as robbery or burglary were rearrested for committing an additional 846 crimes. Thirty-five percent, or 299, were for arrests in the seven major crime categories – murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto – that is nearly triple the amount of those crimes committed in the same 58 days in 2019. All of [sic] people were arrested for offenses that prior to Jan 1 and bail reform, could have landed them in jail.

At a town hall event in February, Mayor Bill de Blasio dismissed Queens residents’ concerns about the growing crime rate and accused them of “whipping up fear.”

“There are people and organizations in this city that are trying to tell you New York City is not safe, that are trying to tell you we are declining and we’re going back to the ’70s,” he told them.

“Listen, listen if you believe that, God bless you. Then that means you’re not interested in the facts,” de Blasio concluded.